Aerial display system with floating pixels

ABSTRACT

A system for performing an aerial display. The system includes a plurality of UAVs each including a propulsion device and a display payload, and the system includes a ground station system with a processor executing a fleet manager module and memory storing a different flight plan and a set of display controls for the UAVs. Then, wherein, during a display time period, the UAVs concurrently execute the flight plans through operation of the propulsion devices and operate the display payloads based on the display controls. The display payloads each include a lighting assembly and a light controller. The output light is one of a two or more colored light streams, and each of the display payloads further may include a light diffuser with the output light being directed onto a surface of the light diffuser. The light diffuser may include a light diffusing screen extending about the lighting assembly.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Description

The present invention relates, in general, to aerial displays andcontrol of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) such as multicopters, and,more particularly, to control methods and systems for using UAVs toprovide a synchronized aerial display with floating pixels (or“flixels”).

2. Relevant Background

In the entertainment industry, there are many applications where it isdesirable to provide an aerial display. For example, an amusement parkmay have a lagoon or other open space over which it is desired topresent a display to entertain visitors. In another example, massivelylarge aerial displays may be presented at sport stadiums or other venuesto celebrate holidays such as New Year's Day throughout the world andthe 4^(th) of July in the United States.

While it is desirable to provide exciting and surprising shows, eachlarge aerial display must also be presented in a safe manner. Further,for theme parks and other settings, it may be useful for the aerialdisplay to be controlled and choreographed to be repeatable but adaptedto be modified. For example, it may be useful to repeat a particularshow for several weeks (e.g., during a particular holiday season) butthen modify it to suit a new season or provide a differently themed showto attract repeat visitors.

Presently, aerial displays have been limited in how easy it has been toalter the choreography and to provide a repeatable show. Some “aerial”displays have relied upon very complex fountain systems to providesprays of water upon which light may be projected or directed. Theseshows can be difficult to change or modify to provide a new show and arelimited in the amount of the air space that can be utilized as thespraying water only reaches certain heights. Other aerial shows rely onfireworks, which can be dangerous to implement and often provide adifferent show result with each use. Other displays may use aircraftsuch as blimps dragging banners or even large display screens. Whileuseful in some settings, these aircraft-based displays typically havebeen limited in size and use only a small number of aircraft and displaydevices.

SUMMARY

The inventors recognized that presently there are no mechanisms forcreating very large aerial displays such as a display that isreusable/repeatable, dynamic, and interactive. To address this need, thefollowing description teaches an aerial display system (and controlmethod) that includes numerous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) withdisplay payloads and a ground control station for choreographing theirmovement and for controlling (in some cases) operation of the payloadsto provide a dynamic display.

For example, the payloads may be controllable light sources along with aprojection surface (e.g., a light diffusion cylinder). Each of theseUAVs with its display payload may be thought of as a floating pixel or“flixel” that when combined provides a very large display screen oraerial display that may be three dimensional and may change over time asthe UAVs move in the display air space and as the payloads operate tochange their display (e.g., change color).

More particularly, a system is provided for performing an aerial displayin a predefined air space. The system includes a plurality of UAVs eachincluding a propulsion device and a display payload, and the system alsoincludes a ground station system with a processor executing a fleetmanager module and with memory storing a different flight plan and a setof display controls for each of the UAVs. Then, wherein, during adisplay time period, the UAVs concurrently execute the flight plansthrough operation of the propulsion devices and operate the displaypayloads based on the display controls.

In some embodiments, the display payloads each include a lightingassembly and a light controller. In such embodiments, the operating ofthe display payloads includes using the light controller to selectivelyoperate the lighting assembly to provide an output light. For example,the output light is one of two or more colored light streams, and eachof the display payloads further may include a light diffuser with theoutput light being directed onto a surface of the light diffuser.Further, the light diffuser may include a light diffusing screenextending about the lighting assembly, and the surface receiving theoutput light may be an inner surface of the light diffusing screen. Inone particular implementation, each of the propulsion devices is amulticopter with a support structure upon which the display payload ismounted a distance apart from rotors of the multicopter.

According to another aspect, each of the propulsion devices may includea local control module and a communication mechanism for communicatingwith a neighboring one of the UAVs. Then, the light controller can beoperable based on a comparison of an identification of the neighboringone with a predefined neighbor in the flight plan. In other cases, theflight plans are downloaded pre-flight to each of the propulsiondevices. Then, during performance of an aerial display, the propulsiondevices independently and concurrently execute the downloaded flightplans. In such cases, the display payloads of at least a subset of theUAVs can be operated in two or more states depending or based onprogress of the UAVs along the downloaded flight plans. Further, it issometimes useful for the flight plans to be downloaded pre-flight toeach of the propulsion devices. Then, during performance of an aerialdisplay, the propulsion devices independently and concurrently executethe downloaded flight plans, and the fleet manager module communicatesinstructions to each of the UAVs to control operation of the displaypayloads during the performance of the aerial display.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is functional block diagram of a multiple UAV system useful forimplementing the flight control techniques described herein;

FIG. 2 is a functional schematic or block diagram of a system for use inproviding flight management or flight control over two or more flyingobjects such as UAVs;

FIG. 3 provides a logic diagram for the onboard logic running orprovided for execution on each UAV such as part of a multicopter controlpanel/board;

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate an exemplary aerial display system of thepresent description during use to provide an aerial light show withnumerous flixels (flying pixels assemblies);

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram for an aerial display system of anembodiment of the present description;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an exemplary flixel or flying pixelassembly including a multicopter with a display payload providing alighting assembly and display screen in the form of a light diffusioncylinder;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing steps for a method of controlling flixelsor flying pixel assemblies to provide an aerial display; and

FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing steps for a method of controllinglighting assemblies within a plurality of flixels of an aerial displaysystem based on neighboring flixels and/or present location of a flixel.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Briefly, the present description is directed toward an aerial displaysystem with a ground control station/system that wirelessly controls andchoreographs movement of a plurality of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)such as multicopters. Each of the UAVs carries a display payload such asa lighting assembly and display screen that can be selectively operatedto display images or colors such that when an airspace filled with suchUAVs is observed a colorful and dynamic aerial show is provided to theobservers (e.g., a crowd circling a lagoon, an audience in a sportsstadium, or the like).

The aerial display system makes use of the concept of a “flixel” orfloating pixel (of a flying pixel object). The flixel or floating pixelassembly is provided by each UAV with its display payload, and theflixel is used to create dynamic aerial displays. In general, a pixel isthe smallest element of an image that can be individually addressed orprocessed in a video display system. Likewise, the aerial displaysystems described herein make use of the sky or a predefined airspace asa display “screen,” and the flixel is the smallest controllable elementof the generated aerial display on or in this display screen/airspace.Many flixels may be controlled by a fleet manager module of a groundcontrol system (GCS) to fly in a flocking and/or synchronized manner(non-swarming control) to create virtual 2D or 3D displays or to flashcolors so as to mimic fireworks (e.g., to provide reusable/sustainablefirework-type displays).

In brief, a flixel is a core component to create aerial displays basedupon objects flying in the air while carrying a visual or displaypayload. The flying objects or UAVs are typically not held or controlledto be in a static or absolute position. Instead, the aerial displayprovided by the described system is dynamic both in the location of thedisplay surfaces/screens of the payloads and in the color or otherimages projected upon the display surfaces/screens. In this manner, thecombination of all the flixels provides a display “screen” that canchange shape within a predefined area during operation (such as to havethe UAVs fly over a lagoon or playing field rather than over theaudience for safety reasons).

In general, a display payload may be a lighting assembly that may beable to provide light of a particular color or a range of colors (oreven a projector-type device). The lighting assembly may be used aloneor in combination with nearly any physical object that may be useful asa display surface or screen (e.g., a light diffusion cylinder that canbe provided about the light source(s) of the lighting assembly).

The flying object may take many forms to selectively move a displaypayload within a display airspace. However, in some embodiments, theflying object is a UAV, which may be a multicopter. In such aerialdisplay systems, a multicopter is modified or used to carry acontrollable light source(s). Further, the display system may becontrolled so that each multicopter is aware of other multicopters intheir vicinity and is also able to be controlled by flocking logic via aground station. In this manner, each multicopter with its displaypayload may be considered a flixel. Significantly, each flixel (or itsmulticopter) is aware of other flixels in the vicinity, and all unitsare controlled by a centralized display adapter (e.g., a fleet controlmodule running/executed on a ground control system (GCS) or groundstation).

Since a plurality of multicopters may be used to implement an aerialdisplay system, it may be useful to first discuss a control method andsystem (or multiple UAV systems incorporating such controlmethods/systems) for use in controlling a flock of UAVs numbering 2 to10 or more UAVs (e.g., 10 to 100 or more multicopters). This discussionof a control method may then be followed by specifics on particularimplementations of aerial display system that may or may not usemulticopters and the control method.

Briefly, the control method uses hierarchical-based supervisory controlwith multicasting techniques along with adaptive logic including onboardor local control modules provided on each UAV to adjust flight paths tosafely avoid collisions based on communications with nearby UAVs. Theresult of the described control of the multiple UAVs in an airspace suchas over a theme park or stadium is a flocking behavior in which the UAVsappear to move in a synchronized manner with movements that are notcompletely independent nor completely centrally controlled. The controlmethod may be implemented in a system with four general components orpieces: a fleet management station (or ground station); flying objectsor UAVs; at least dual-path communications between the ground stationand the UAVs, e.g., much of the description below highlights use ofdual-channel communication but some embodiments may use three or moretransceivers onboard a UAV (such as to provide a front channel(supervisory), a back channel (autonomous), and a show channel(lighting, payload actuators, and so on)); and stage/show management.These four components or aspects of the control method/system aredescribed below with reference to the figures.

First, with regard to dual-path communications, FIG. 1 illustrates asystem 100 that may be used to control flying objects in a safe andrepeatable manner. The system 100 includes a ground station or fleetmanager 110 along with a plurality of multicopters (or UAVs) 130, witheach being implemented (as shown via arrow 137) with the configurationof multicopter 150. As shown, the fleet of multicopters 130 isconfigured for inter-UAV or multicopter communications 135, and, asexplained below, this intercommunication allows the multicopters 130 tosafely react to a determination that another multicopter 130 is in aclose proximity to avoid collisions while generally remaining on apredefined flight path. During runtime, ground station/fleet manager 110is used for sending commands to maintain show performance and qualityand to monitor safety information. During non-runtime, it uploads theshow requirements.

Dual-path communication between the ground station 110 and themulticopter 150 is provided by each flying object or multicopter 150having two communication channels shown at 117 and 119 in FIG. 1. Tothis end, the ground station 110 includes a front-end radio ortransceiver 116 and a back end radio or transceiver 118, and themulticopter 150 also has two radios 154 and 156 configured forcommunicating 117, 119 with the station radios 116, 118. Someembodiments may further include a show radio or transceiver 190 in theground station 110 that communicates over show channel 191 with aradio/transceiver 194 on the multicopter 150. The first or front endchannel 117 provides a high speed communications channel (e.g., 2.4 GHzor the like) that is useful to provide choreographed movement of themulticopters 150 (e.g., when the UAVs 130 are not simply following aflight path but have time-synchronized movements from position toposition in an airspace).

For example, the front channel 117 may be thought of as a robust,low-bandwidth “primary” channel for synchronized motion control andmanual override control by the ground station. The back channel 119 maybe thought of as a “secondary” high-bandwidth channel. The back channel119 may be used for transmitting telemetry from the multicopter 150 tothe ground station 110, for the ground station 110 to transmit signalsfor supervisory control of the multicopter 150, and for a back upcommunication channel should the front end channel 117 fail to one ormore of the multicopters 150. Further, the show channel 191 may be usedfor non-flight-related communications.

The ground station 110 is shown to include a processor(s) 112 that runssoftware to perform the ground station control functions discussedherein such as the fleet manager module 114. The processor 112 controlsoperations of the radios/transceivers 116, 118 including managing memory120 to store data received from the multicopter 150 over channel 117,119. The memory 120 is shown to store flight paths 122 that may bedownloaded or provided over front end channel 117 to the multicopter 150(of those in fleet 130) for use by a local control module 160 to controlmovement of the multicopter 150 (e.g., via selectively throttling ofmotors turning one or more of the rotors). The memory 120 also stores aset or file of data 124 for each multicopter 150 of a fleet 130, and thedata 124 may include an expected state 126 for the multicopter 150, anactual state 127 of the multicopter 150, and other telemetry data 128(which may be passed via the back end channel 119 to the ground station110).

Each multicopter 150 is shown to include one or more processors 152 thatcontrol operation of the two radios 154, 156 so as to process receiveddata/signals on channel 117, 119 and to, as appropriate, store data inonboard memory 170. The processor 152 also may run or execute code,programs, or software such as a local control module 160 to function toperform the UAV-control functions described herein. The memory 170 maybe used to store a flight path 174 provided by the ground station 110and to also store determined positions and telemetry data 178 (that maybe provided to the ground station 119 as shown in memory 128). Thetelemetry data 178 may include a heartbeat (each UAV in fleet 130indicates to the ground station that is operational or “alive”). Thetelemetry data 178 may further include a present position of themulticopter 150 (e.g., a three dimensional location in the airspace) andthe present speed of the multicopter 150. Further, the telemetry data178 may include the health of any monitored components on themulticopter 150 and a battery life/status as well as other monitoreddata.

The fleet management component or module 114 acts to monitor theexpected state 126 and the actual state 127 of each of the flyingobjects 150. For example, the module 114 may compare a present positionor traveling speed of a multicopter 150 with its expected state 126(which may be defined by a flight path 122 or a choreographed andtime-synchronized movement of UAVs 130 such as in a light or otheraerial display/show). Based on this monitoring, the fleet managementmodule 114 may make adjustments such as using the following priorities:localization (e.g., position of the multicopter 150 with respect toother UAVs/multicopters); environment (e.g., to adjust for high windconditions or the like); safety (e.g., return the multicopter 150 to asafe location or operating mode if it or other UAVs are not operating asexpected); show performance (e.g., adjust position, speed, or otheroperating parameters to meet show needs); fleet status; and operatorconvenience/performance needs.

As discussed above, the fleet management module 114 and local controlmodule 160 are configured to work together to provide flocking-typecontrol. In use, the inter-UAV communications 135 are used to allowoperational data to flow or spread hierarchically among the UAVs 130rather than relying upon centralized/ground control alone. In otherwords, the fleet management module 114 provides a level of centralizedcontrol or central logic that acts to control the movement of theUAVs/multicopters 130 such as by providing flight paths 122 and/ormaking real time adjustments based on a comparison of expected state 126and actual state 127 (or for safety reasons). With regard to inter-UAVcommunications, it may be useful to note the following: (a) some unitsmay be designated as master nodes talking with the fleet manager; and(b) the master nodes may operate to send out in-flight calculatedinformation or commands to remaining UAVs.

The movement/control is not swarm-based control in part because swarmingUAVs can collide or have an inherent lack of safety and because thesystem 100 is designed to avoid random movements as want a flock orsynchronized movements among the multicopters 130, 150. However, theinter-UAV communications 135 as processed and generated by the localcontrol module allows each multicopter 150 to react safely toenvironment conditions such as increasing or direction-changing wind andpresence/movement of neighboring multicopters 130, 150 as crossingflight paths is allowed in the system 100 (e.g., may be required byflight paths 122). In other words, the onboard logic 160 acts to controlthe multicopter 150 movements so as to avoid collisions while attemptingto stay generally on the flight path 174.

FIG. 2 illustrates a system (or a flight management control system) 200for use in managing or controlling UAVs to provide an aerial vehicleflock with synchronized flight. The system 200 is shown to be made up ofor include components used to perform off-line activity at 202 and usedto perform on-line activity at 204. The off-line activity 202 mayinclude designing or selecting a show concept or choreographed movement204 for a plurality of UAVs to achieve a particular effect or perform atask(s).

The show concept (e.g., digital data stored in memory or the like) 204may then be processed with a computer or other device to simulate asparticles with spatial boundaries as shown at 206. For example, eachmulticopter to be used to provide an aerial display or show (or toperform an aerial task) may be modeled as a particle, and a threedimensional space such as a sphere with a predefined diameter may beused to define a safety envelope for that UAV or flying object. Thesafety envelope or space is used to reduce the risk of a collisionbetween two UAVs (e.g., create and choreograph a show to avoidcollisions and not allow two UAVs to have their safety envelopesintersect/overlap as the UAVs move along their flight paths).

The created show or task for the multiple UAVs is then exported tomemory or other devices as shown at 207 for processing, with this “show”typically including a file per each UAV or unmanned flying object. Eachof these files is processed to generate real world coordinates for eachUAV to be achieved over time during a show (or performance of achoreographed task(s)). This processing creates individual flight plans208 for each UAV, and such processing or generating of the flight plans208 may include processing the modeled show 207 based on specificlogistical requirements. These requirements for example may modify ashow to suit a particular venue (e.g., is the air space the same sizeand shape as in the simulation and, if not, modification may be usefulto change or set real world coordinates for one or more of the UAVs).

The logistical requirements may also include setting a ground truth forthe venue and adding safe or “home” points (e.g., with GPS or otherlocation settings) where each vehicle can be safely positioned such asat the beginning and end of a show or when a safety override is imparted(e.g., “return to home”). The stage/show management component 202 may beconsidered a component that translates central show controller commands,which may be a foreign system, to fleet actions that are sent 209 to thefleet management component either through scripts (e.g., data files),real time computer messages, and/or hardware triggers.

At 209, the flight plans are provided to the ground station 210 (orethereal fleet controller/computer or ground control system (GCS) asused in FIG. 3). The system 200 further includes a number of UAVs 220shown in the form of multicopters in this example. The multicopters 220may be in groups/sets with set 222 shown to include two copters 223, set224 including one copter, and set 226 includes four copters. These setsmay act or function together, at least for a portion of a show or flightpath, to perforin a particular display or task.

In other cases, all of the multicopters may be considered part of alarge set that moves as a flock or otherwise has its movements timesynchronized and/or choreographed by flight plans 208. As shown at 229,a multicopter 228 in the group 220 can communicate with its nearby orneighboring multicopters so as to determine their presence, to determinetheir proximity, and when needed, to process the flight plan, determinedneighbor position, and other environmental data to modify their flightplan to avoid collision and/or communicate 229 with the neighboringmulticopter to instruct it to move or otherwise change its flightplan/movement to avoid collision.

As discussed with reference to FIG. 1, the system 200 also includes twocommunication channels between the GCS 210 and each of the multicopters220. The front end channel is shown at 212 with the GCS using remotecontrol radios or wireless transceivers 214 to communicate data/controlsignals 215 to each of the multicopters 220. In this manner, the GCS orreceiver 210 binds to multiple aircraft so as to allow multicasting ofcontrol signals such as to wirelessly load flight plans 208 to each ofthe multicopters 220 before flight operations are initiated by the GCS210.

In some cases, a manual override (selectable switch, for example, oneach radio 214) 216 is provided to allow an operator to signal 215 aparticular multicopter 220 to switch to safe mode (e.g., to return tohome, to safely drop to ground, and so on). The back end channel forcommunications is shown at 230 with each of the multicopters 220, whichmay have two or more radios as discussed with reference to FIG. 1,communicating telemetry or other data (e.g., GPS and altitude data via amesh network) to the GCS 210 as shown to be relayed 233 via a wirelesstransceiver device 232 (e.g., with a range when working with UAV radiosof about 1 mile). Each multicopter 220 may include a unique identifieror ID with their telemetry data (e.g., the same ID as used to associatea flight plan 208 with a particular multicopter 220).

In system 200, each of the flying objects 220 may be a multicopter thatoptionally may be modified to carry a variety of payloads (or units).For example, the payload may be one or more light sources. The payloadmay include the communication devices, e.g., two or more radiosdiscussed herein, to provide multiple communication channels. Anycommunication channel may be linked to the GCS 210 (or its fleetmanagement module discussed above with reference to FIG. 1). In oneimplementation, the multicopters 220 were each modified via software(e.g., local control module 160 in FIG. 1) to provide all the logic(e.g., see FIG. 3 and corresponding discussion) required for operationin a show environment including flocking logic, safety strategies, lightshow scripts, character expression logic, and alternative showmaneuvers.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart or logic diagram of a safety controlmethod or logic 300 that may be implemented on board each multicopter orflying object (e.g., via the local control module 160 as shown for amulticopter 150 in FIG. 1). In the safety process 300, a process loopbegins at 302 and a first step may be to perform a check of the frontend communication channel at 304. At 306, the process 300 continues withdetermining whether the front channel is still up/available or is nowdown. If determined at 306 to be down, a flag is set at 308 indicatingthe front end communication channel has failed as shown at 312.

At this point, the process 300 may continue at 310 with controlling themulticopter in a failsafe mode as shown at 310, and this may involvehaving the multicopter loiter or hold its present position for a presetperiod of time, until the front end channel is available (as determinedby repeating step 304), or until instructed otherwise by GCS user action350 (e.g., an operator may identify a loitering multicopter in thegroup/flock and instruct it to take certain action such as to return tohome (RTH)).

The process 300 may include an emergency stop cycle or subroutine 320.In the stop cycle 320, an ongoing (frequent periodicity) step 340 suchas obtaining a heartbeat of the multicopter may be performed. In thisstep 340, the logic/processor onboard may transmit an “alive”pulse/signal to the GCS and also determine its present position andother telemetry, which is also transmitted to the GCS via the back endcommunication channel. As part of step 340, a check is performed todetermine a status of the back end channel to the GCS. The following areexamples of multiple modes of failure that may result in differentreactions: (a) show failure (e.g., missed waypoint) to which the systemmay respond by adapting to stay safe and continue flight; (b) frontchannel communication failure to which the system may respond by goingto autonomous mode to stay safe and possibly cancel a show if needed;(c) back channel communication failure to which the system may respondby waiting for confirmation and hold in place until communication isreestablished (if not, then land); and (d) full communication failure towhich the system may respond by landing in place.

After step 340 is performed, the method 300 continues at 318 with adetermination of whether or not the back channel is down. If not, themethod 300 can continue at 319 with a determination of whether or notthe front channel flag 312 is set. If not, the method 300 can return toperform another loop 302. If the front end flag is set at 312 (fail istrue) as determined at 319, the method 300 may continue at 358 withwaiting for a control signal or action to be performed by the GCS (e.g.,an operator uses the GCS to transmit a control signal). At 356, adetermination is made regarding a timeout after a preset period of time.

If the timeout period has not elapsed, the method 300 continues at 352with processing of a GCS action that is provided by wirelesssignal/transmission 351 from the GCS 350. A user or operator may provideinput at a ground station or GCS to perform a user-initiated emergencystop, which is checked for at 354. If an e-stop is not issued in thetransmission 351 as determined at 354, the method 300 may continue at352 with further processing of the action 350 such as to determine thatinstructions have been received to operate the multicopter in aparticular manner.

These responses/actions are shown at 360 with the local/onboard controllogic acting to land the multicopter, to return the multicopter to home,to hold the present position (but changing altitude is allowed), to holdaltitude (but wind or other environmental conditions may cause positionto change over time), or other action. This step 360 is followed with anew control/safety loop 302. In this manner, a user can provide at 350override or direct control signals to each multicopter that can overridea program/flight plan at any time or in response to loss of the frontend communication channel. When a timeout period has elapsed at 356, thee-stop cycle 320 may be performed. In particular, the onboard logic mayact to land the multicopter as shown at 330 if no GCS action is receivedwithin the present time (e.g., 10 to 30 seconds or the like).

The e-stop cycle 320 may also be initiated when it is determined by theonboard control logic at 318 that the back end channel is down. In sucha case, step 322 is performed to check the IMU and then determine at 324whether the pitch or roll angle is greater than some preset acceptablelimit (e.g., 15 to 30 degrees or more). If this pitch is not exceeded,the e-stop cycle 320 continues at 330 with landing the multicopter. Ifthe pitch or roll angle is greater than the preset maximum at 324, thee-stop cycle 320 continues at 326 with stopping the motors and otherwise“disarming” the multicopter to place it in a disarmed state at 328 (atwhich point the multicopter will fall to the ground rather than gentlylanding as is the case at 330).

With the above discussion and general discussion of a flight controlsystem (system 100 and 200) understood, it may be useful to morespecifically discuss functions of particular components of such a flightcontrol system and the onboard logic and controls of each multicopter orother UAV. With regard to the ground control system (GCS), the GCScontrols preflight, show state, and safety.

During preflight, an operator uses the GCS to load a flight plan ontoeach UAV (e.g., transmitted wirelessly via the front end channel forstorage in memory accessible by the local control module of the UAV).During a show, the GCS and its fleet manager module acts to run theflight plan previously loaded on the UAV. This “running” may involve anoperator using a trigger module or mechanism of the fleet manager moduleto say start or “go” to initiate all the multicopters or UAVs to beginto run a flight plan. Typically, before this step, each UAV is placed ata ground location for takeoff or at an aerial home position, with thesehome or start positions being included in the overall flight plan for ashow or to perform a task as a flock of UAVs.

During the show, the GCS actively monitors safety and an operator caninitiate a GCS user action as shown in FIG. 3. More typically, though,the GCS monitors the operation of all the UAVs in the flock byprocessing the heartbeat and telemetry data provided by each of the UAVsvia the back channel communications from the back end radio ortransceiver provided on each UAV. In some embodiments, the fleet managermodule has software/logic that compares the actual state of each UAVagainst the expected state at that particular time for the UAV accordingto the presently enacted flight plan.

If the actual state does not compare favorably (e.g., the position ofthe UAV is outside an acceptable range such as several-to-many feet offcourse), the fleet manager module may generate an alert (audio and/orvisible) on a GCS monitor or other linked device to warn an operator ofthis possibly unsafe condition. At this point, the warned operator maytake action (user action in FIG. 3) to correct the operations of theUAV(s) or to instruct the UAV to return to home or take other actions.

For example, the fleet manager module may allow the operator to selector “hit” a safety button (or selectable icon), and the fleet managermodule would communicate via the front end or back end communicationchannel to instruct the UAV to go into a predefined safety mode ofoperation (e.g., see box 360 of FIG. 3). This safety mode instruction orGCS is processed by the local control module on the UAV, with the UAVdrive system correspondingly operated to position the UAV in a safelocation or mode of operation. Such a safety mode/operation can beissued on a per UAV basis or to the entire flock concurrently (or evento a subset of such a flock). In some embodiments, the fleet managermodule actively negotiates with each UAVs local control module (or itssubroutine handling safe operations); in other words, hitting the“safety button” on the GCS does not necessarily require the affected UAVto immediately take action as the UAV control system may act to completea task or first attempt a control adjustment to correct its operationsprior to allowing GCS override (such as causing the UAV toreturn-to-home).

After the “go” or start signal is issued by the fleet manager module/GCSupon an operator input, the GCS along with the local controlsoftware/hardware on each UAV work to safely perform the preloadedflight plan/show. As discussed above, the control method and systemtaught herein combines centralized control (e.g., to allow manualoverride for safety or other reasons during a show/flight-based task)with smart UAVs to more effectively provide flock-type movement of theUAVs. In other words, the UAVs may each be given a particular flightplan that they work toward over time (during a show time period) whileattempting to respond to environmental conditions such as changing windor the unexpected presence of another UAV within or near to their safetywindow (or safe operating envelope surrounding each UAV such as a sphereof several-to-many feet such as 10 to 30 feet or the like in which noother UAV typically will travel to avoid collisions).

During operations, the GCS is used to trigger each of the UAVs to begintheir stored flight plan starting from a home or show/task start point(e.g., each UAV may be placed at differing launch points or behovering/flying at a particular ground point at a predefined startaltitude). In some cases after the “go” is received by a UAV, each UAVuses its local control module (or other software/programming) to attemptto follow the flight plan but with no time constraints. In other words,the flight plan may define a series of earth points or way points alongwith elevation/altitude values for the UAV. In these embodiments, theUAV is controlled in a relatively fluid manner and not tied toaccomplishing tasks in a certain amount of time (e.g., the flight plandoes not require the UAV be at a particular location at a particulartime after the go signal is received).

In some implementations such as those using multicopters for the UAVs,the flight plan is built up assuming that each UAV travels at a presetand constant flight speed. This flight speed may be set independentlyfor each UAV or may be the same (or within a relatively small range) foreach of the UAVs. In other cases, though, the local control module maybe adapted to adjust the flight speed to suit the environmentalconditions.

For example, stronger winds may make it beneficial to speed up (or atleast operate rotors of a multicopter) when moving against a strong headwind and to slow down when moving with the strong tail wind. The speedof the wind may be determined at the UAV with the local control moduleand sensors provided as part of the payload or the wind direction andspeed information may be provided by the GCS to each of the UAV. In somecase, flock control is preferred such that each UAV has its speedsadjusted commonly, e.g., each UAV runs at like flight speeds whilemoving in a like direction so as to appear to have synchronized andnon-random movement.

In some embodiments, each UAV acts independently to try to continue tofollow its own flight plan. Each flight plan differs at least in thefact that each UAV begins at a differing start point or home and movestoward its first way point. To this end, each UAV is equipped as neededto determine its present three dimensional position that includes alatitude/longitude position (e.g., a GPS position or similar positiondata) along with its present altitude or height above the ground. Thelocal control module uses this present position data to determine andmodify (if necessary) its present direction or heading to continue tomove toward the next way point in its flight plan. This may involvechanging it course and also its angle of attack to reach the desiredheight at the way point.

Generally, the GCS monitors for safe operations of the UAVs as discussedwith reference to FIG. 3, but an operator may take steps to manuallyoverride a particular one of the many UAVs to provide better control ofthat UAV. For example, the fleet control module of the GCS may operateto compare an expected position of the UAV with its actual position(provided via back end channel in its telemetry or other data). Awarning may be provided in a GUI that the UAV is trending off course oris outside an accepted tolerance for reaching its next way point.

For example, the GUI may show properly operating and positioned UAVs ingreen, UAVs that are off course or out of position a safe amount inyellow, and UAVs outside of a safe envelope in red. The red/unsafe UAVsmay be handled automatically or manually to cause them to enter a safemode of operation (return to home, for example). The yellow UAVs thatare operating outside of desired conditions, though, may be manuallyoperated to try to assist them in returning to their flight path such asby manually changing speed, direction, angle of attack, or the like tomore quickly bring the UAV to a desired way point. After manualoperations are complete, the control may be returned from the GCS to thelocal control module for local control of the UAV based on the flightplan stored in its memory. Note, the GCS may be configured to evaluatecollision issues and execute collision avoidance commands to preserveshow quality (i.e., flight performance) in degrading weather conditions.

In other embodiments, a local control module of a UAV may operate toadjust the flight plan during flight to better react to environmentalconditions (such as gusts of wind that may throw it, at leasttemporarily, off course). For example, a flight plan may provide a timerelative to a start time (when “go” was signaled by the GCS to the UAVs)to reach each of its way points on the flight plan. One embodiment maycall for the UAV to determine a distance to a next UAV and its presentestimated time of arrival (e.g., using changes in its earth position todetermine its true speed or rate of travel). If the time of arrival isnot within a window about a preset/goal arrival time, the local controlmodule may act to increase the flight speed of the UAV such as byincreasing the rate of rotation for the rotors of a multicopter.Likewise, if the UAV is moving too quickly (e.g., strong tail wind), theUAV's local control module may act to slow the flight speed. In thismanner, the movement of the UAVs may remain better synchronized toprovide a flock control.

In other cases, though, the local control module of the multicopter orother UAV acts to determine whether or not a way point was reachedwithin a predefined time window, with the flight plan defining times forbeing at each way point relative to a start/go time. If not (e.g., didnot reach a way point at Time “X” plus an allowable delay), the localcontrol module may act to modify the flight plan by directing the UAV toskip the next way point and fly directly to the way point following thenext. For example, a flight plan may include way points A to Z. If alocal control module determines that a predefined time window for waypoint C was not achieve, the local control module may skip or remove waypoint D from the flight plan and cause the UAV to take adirection/course (e.g., a straight line or other predefined path) to waypoint E. In this way, the flight speed is maintained (e.g., all UAVs flyat the same speed) while allowing the UAV to “catch up” if they fallbehind their flight plan (e.g., defining a set of way points or earthpoints to pass through or nearby within a predefined time period thatmay correspond with a time to perform a show/display or perform a taskwith the multicopters).

With regard to safety and monitoring of operations, each UAV may store adefinition of a geofence that defines an outer perimeter (and an innerarea in some cases) or boundary of a geographical area. The UAV's localcontrol module compares the present position determined for the UAVduring a flight and compares this position to the geofence. If thisboundary is crossed (or is being approached such as within a presetdistance from the geofence), the local control module may act topromptly return the UAV back within the geofence boundaries. In othercases, the UAV may be switched into a safe operating mode (as discussedwith reference to FIG. 3), and this may cause the UAV to return-to-homeor otherwise safely return to ground (or other safe holding position).For example, the geofence may define the boundaries of a lagoon orstadium field, and the UAVs may fly over this geographical area (orwithin an area offset from the physical boundaries of this area todefine a somewhat smaller area) but not outside it so as to avoid flyingdirectly over any people in an audience to provide enhanced viewingsafety.

Further, regarding safe UAV operations, some embodiments of the flightcontrol method and system involve configuring the UAVs to haveUAV-to-UAV (or multicopter-to-multicopter) communications or othertechnologies provided onboard to avoid collisions without reliance uponthe GCS to intervene. Each UAV may use its local control module tooperate on an ongoing basis to detect when another UAV comes within apredefined distance from the UAV such as within a sphere of 10 to 30feet or the like. The first UAV to detect such a condition (or both UAVsif a tie) generates a collision warning message and transmits thismessage to the offending/nearby UAV to alter its course or presentposition to move out of the first UAV's air space. For example, the UAVreceiving such a collision warning message may store an evasive actionin its memory and initiate this action (a fixed movement such as anglingto the right or left a preset angle). The evasion may be taken for apreset time period and then the UAV may return to following its flightplan (e.g., recalculate a course to the next way point from its newpresent location or the like).

As discussed with regard to FIG. 3, the local control module of each UAVmay perform other functions to control its own flight to ensure safeoperations. For example, the local control module uses a front end radioand a back end radio to communicate with the fleet manager module of theGCS. The status of these communication channels is monitored by thelocal control module, and, when either communication channel is detectedto be lost (e.g., an expected receipt confirmation from the GCS is notreceived to a transmission of a telemetry data by a UAV), the localcontrol module may react to this loss of communication by entering asafe operating mode (e.g., land, return to home, hold position, or thelike).

In another example, the UAV's local control module monitors the presentorientation and/or altitude of the UAV and if the orientation is outsidean acceptable range (e.g., pitch or roll exceeds 20 degrees or the likefor a multicopter) or if the altitude is too high or too low, the localcontrol module may also act to enter the UAV into a safe operating mode(before or after attempting to correct the operating problem).

With the above understanding of control of UAVs understood, it may beuseful to again turn to a discussion of aerial display systems makinguse of the flixel concept. FIG. 4 illustrates an aerial display system400 during its use to provide an aerial display, e.g., a very large arealight show. The system 400 is shown to include a large number (e.g., 20to 200) flixels 430 that would be controlled as discussed above by a GSC(not shown) and also through onboard logic as well as flixel-to-flixelcommunications (as discussed above for safety purposes and as discussedbelow with regard to maintaining show quality).

The flixels 430 are shown to be flying or at least hovering in theairspace 410 above a geographic area 405 such as a portion of a themepark or the like where a large audience may gather to watch an aerialdisplay. The flixels 430 carry a payload such as a lighting assemblyalong with a display screen/object that may be operated as shown at 431to provide a steady or flickering light of the same or multiple colors(or to provide a video or dynamic light stream). The light 431 providedby each flixel 430 may vary over time similar to a pixel of a displayscreen/device to provide a desired image or a flixel may be turned onand off as useful to create a changing image.

The aerial display provided by system 400 is provided within a displayspace or “air-based screen” 420 within a predefined portion of airspace410. During use, the flixels 430 may each move about within the displayspace 420 to change the imagery or aerial display while providing thesame or differing output light 431. The size of the display space 420may be quite large such as 50 to 100 yards or more per side on atwo-sided (or 2D) screen 420 or on a three-sided (or 3D) screen 420. Theflixels 430 may be controlled via a fleet manager module of a GSC tofollow a downloaded flight plan with onboard logic (e.g., a localcontrol module) so as to move in a synchronized manner such as withflock-like control.

For example, the flixels 430 may first be used to display the face of afirst popular character and then second be controlled to display theface with a changed expression or to display a face of a secondcharacter. The second display or animation may be provided by moving allor a subset of the flixels 430 to new locations in the display space 420and/or by changing the operation of the lighting assembly of all or asubset of the flixels 430 to provided differing light outputs 431 (e.g.,differing flixels are lit or illuminated with a different color such asin a red-blue-green arrangement as in many pixel-based display devicesbut in the airspace 410).

FIG. 5 illustrates the aerial display assembly 400 at a second operatingstate some period after the operating state shown in FIG. 4. In thissecond operating state, the display space/screen 420 is shown to havechanged in shape and size in the airspace 410. To achieve this change inthe display screen shape, at least some of the flixels 430 (e.g., asubset) are shown to be moving 532 along a flight path that stretches orreshapes the display space/screen 420. As will be appreciated, the sizeand shape of the display space 420 is defined by outermost ones of theflixels 430, which may be moving 532 so as to provide a displayspace/screen 420 that is dynamic.

Further, the flixels 430 may be operated to have some of the lightassemblies in their payloads change the color of the light 431 that isoutput or otherwise change the resulting display 431 of the payload. Inthese two ways, the aerial display system 400 with flixels 430 can bedynamic in the visual effect (e.g., by changing colors/imagery at eachflixel 430 which may also move) and also used to provide a large displaywith a display space/screen 420 that can change its shape, its size, andits location over a geographic area 405 (move its X-Y coordinates and/orits elevation).

FIG. 6 provides a functional block diagram of an exemplary aerialdisplay system 600. The system 600 uses an aerial display space 610 suchas a 3D space above a sports stadium, a park, or an area of an amusementpark or city to provide an aerial display such as a light show. Theaerial display is provided by a plurality (e.g., several-to-many (e.g.,up to 100 or more)) of flixels or flying pixel assemblies 620. Thedisplay space 610 may be considered the safety envelope for the flixelsas discussed above for controlling UAVs or may be more generally thoughtof as the outer perimeter defined by the present location of the flixels620.

Each flixel 620 is able to fly and, to this end, includes a propulsiondevice 622, which may take the form of nearly any UAV such as, but notlimited to, a multicopter. As discussed with multicopters 150 in FIG. 1,the propulsion device 622 includes local processors and logic to providelocal control of the flixel 620. For example, a local control module 624may be provided that functions to execute a flight path and/or lightingcontrols 628 (which may be downloaded prior to flight or may be providedduring a show/display as discussed with regard to FIGS. 1 and 2).

The flixel 620 further includes, though, a display payload 630 that maybe configured such that the combined visual effect of the flixels 620flying in the display space 610 is a desired aerial display. Thepayloads 630 may be as simple as a colored banner or object (of nearlyany shape and size) that when positioned in a location in the displayspace 610 with other ones of the display payloads 630 provides a desireddisplay/imagery. In other cases, as shown, the display payload 630includes a lighting assembly 634 powered onboard with a power source 632(e.g., a battery).

The lighting assembly includes a light controller 636 that controlsoperation of a light source/projector 638. For example, the light source638 may be made up of a number of colored lights such as light emittingdiodes (LEDs), and the light controller 636 may act to selectivelyoperate particular ones of the LEDs in the light source 638 to output639 a particular color(s) of light. The local control module 624 may usetiming and color selection information in the light control data 628 tolocally control the lighting assembly 634. In other cases, though,wireless signals 653 are provided by a ground control system (GCS) 650to implement lighting controls 668 for a particular display/show 654.For example, signals 653 may be provided to synchronize lighting changesfor the various flixels 620 with a concurrently playing audio track.

The display payload 630 further includes a display or projection screen(or surface(s)) 640. This may be a planar sheet of fabric such as a rearprojection or front projection element. In other cases, the screen 640may be provided to fully or partially enclose the light source 638. Forexample, the display surfaces/object 640 may be a hollow sphere,cylinder, elongated blimp-like shape, rectangular, or other shapedenclosure, and this enclosure may be formed from light diffusingmaterial so as that the entire object 640 becomes illuminated when itsinner surfaces receive the output light 639. In one preferredembodiment, the display payloads 630 (or flixels 620) appear to beflying lanterns with the propulsion device 622 being a multicopter andthe controller 636 being a wireless controller communicating 653 withthe GCS 650 to provide remote control/operation of the lighting assembly634.

As discussed with reference to FIG. 1, each flixel 620 (instead of aUAV/multicopter 150 in system 100) may be controlled in part from aground control system (GCS) 650 via two channel communications 653. TheGCS 650 may take the form shown for station 110, and the GCS 650includes a fleet manager module 652 that functions to control theflixels 620 based on an aerial display or show definition 654 (stored inthe memory of the system 650 or accessible by the system 650).

The display definition 654 includes control data 660 for each flixelincluding a flight path/plan 664 for the flixel during a display or show(e.g., the flight path and dynamic control may be similar to thatdiscussed for UAVs above with reference to FIGS. 1-3). Further, in somecases, the display definition 654 may include lighting controls 668 foreach flixel 620, and this data 668 may be downloaded wirelessly 653before a display/flight. In other cases, though, the lighting controls668 are used on an ongoing basis by the flight manager module 652 totransmit lighting control signal 653 to each of the flixels 620 asneeded to synchronize operation of the lighting assembly 634 of eachpayload 630 (with other payloads of other flixels in space 610) toachieve a desired light show/display in space 610.

FIG. 7 illustrates one embodiment of a flixel or flying pixel assembly700 that the inventors have successfully prototyped in an aerial displaysystem as described herein. In the assembly 700, the propulsion deviceis a multicopter 710, which may be controlled as discussed above withreference to FIGS. 1-6. The display payload of the assembly 700 isprovided by the combination of a lighting assembly 720 that ispositioned within light diffuser 730.

The lighting assembly 720 is carried beneath the body of the multicopter710 with payload support structure or frame 714. The lighting assembly720 is shown to include a plurality of lights such as red, green, and/orblue (or other colored) LEDs that may be concurrently or separatelyoperated or lit to provide the projected or output light 725 of thelighting assembly 720 (e.g., selectively provide a particular color toallow the assembly 700 to act as a floating or flying pixel in a largeraerial display including numerous flixels 700).

The lighting assembly 720 is shown to be supported within the hollowcenter space of the light diffuser 730. The light diffuser 730 includesa screen or sheet 734 of light diffusing material (e.g., a plastic, acloth/fabric, a material used to provide a rear projection screen, orthe like), and, in this embodiment, the screen/sheet 734 is shaped intoa cylindrical shape with a height, H_(Screen), and a diameter, Diam(such as 12 to 36 inches in height and 6 to 24 inches or more indiameter). The screen/sheet 734 is configured such that when the outputlight 725 from the lighting assembly lights strikes the inner surface(s)735 the diffuser 730 generally appears as a cylindrical light.

In other words, the flixel 700 in operation may appear to be a flyingcylindrical lantern that is illuminated white or another color (whichmay change during a display or show via control signals from a GSC orlocal controller of the multicopter 710) or, when the light sources areprojectors, the diffuser 730 may project images or patterns. Thebody/screen 734 may be a single material or color to project/provide asingle color when lit 725 or be patterned or multicolored in someimplementations of the flixel 700. While the screen/body 734 is shownshaped in a cylinder, many other shapes and configurations may be usedsuch as a box/rectangular shaped body, a spherical-shaped body/ball, andso on.

During operations of an aerial display system such as system 600 of FIG.6 with flixels such as flixel 700 of FIG. 7, the flixels may becontrolled in a variety of ways to provide an aerial display. Forexample, an off board or ground station controller may be used toprovide signals to control the lighting or other display output providedby each flixel's payload, and the flixels may fly in a flight patterndefined by a flight plan downloaded for local control or provided on anongoing basis with control signals from the off board or ground stationcontroller.

The flight plan may cause the flixels to move into a plurality ofpredefined positions and hover in or hold that position in an air space.The display payloads may then be operated to create a first staticimage. Then, the payloads may be second operated to create a secondstatic image. The images may continue to be changed in this manner andthe periodicity of the changes may provide multiple static images thatremain separate or may become an animated display. In other embodiments,though, some or all of the flixels may be moved based on the flight planto new positions prior to a second static or animated image beingprovided by a second operation state of all or a portion of the flixels'display payloads.

Further, another operating mode may be considered a dynamic mode ormarquee application in which each flixel detects its present locationand acts to update its payload operations to suit the new location. Inother words, the local control logic (or GSC) may act to update the oldimage provided by the flixels to fit the new locations in the air spaceof the flixels, which may lead to an animated aerial display. In othercases, though, the movement of the flixels may be used to create newimagery/images, and the flixels may change their output from theirdisplay payloads while moving and not just when they reach a new waypoint or assigned location in a flight plan.

FIG. 8 illustrates operation of an aerial display assembly with acontrol method 800 that implements a number of these show features. Asshown in FIG. 8, the method 800 starts at 805 such as with selecting anair space for an aerial display and designing an aerial display(s) forthat air space and for a particular flixel design (e.g., flying lanternsas shown at 700 in FIG. 7 or another configuration) and number offlixels (e.g., different displays possible depending on the number offlixels being used for a particular air space).

At 810, the method 800 continues with downloading flight path or plandata to each flixel (or its multicopter and its local control module).Further, at 810, onboard lighting controls or instructions may bedownloaded (if used and not controlled solely by the GSC) for use by alighting assembly controller and/or local control module of themulticopter or other propulsion mechanism. At 820, the method 800continues with determining with the local or GSC controller whether theshow/display is to be a dynamic or static display.

If static, the method 800 continues at 830 with each flixel beingoperated to fly to a next assigned location as defined by the downloadedflight plan (or based on commands from a GSC). At 834, the method 800includes operating the lighting assembly when or prior to reaching thenext way point of a flight path per the lighting controls. For example,a first set of the flixels may be controlled to illuminate the diffuserwith red light while a second set of the flixels may be controlled toilluminate the diffuser of their payload with green light (and so on) atthe first way points of the flight path. At 840, the controller (localor GSC) acts to determine whether a new static display is called for inthe display definition. If no, the method 800 continues with holding thepresent location and lighting controls.

If yes at 840, the method 800 continues with each flixel (or a subsetthereof) moving to a second assigned location or way point in the flightpath. Then, at 850 (or on the way to the next way point), the method 800continues with the lighting assembling being operated for each of theflixels to present the second or next static image. The method 800 maythen continue at 840 or end at 890.

If at 820 a dynamic display is determined, the method 800 continues at860 with initiating a flight plan for the display for each of theplurality of flixels. At 864, the method 800 continues with each flixeldetermining its present location in the air space. Then, at 868, each(or a subset) of the flixels uses its local controller to process thisnew location along with the display definition/data to control thedisplay payload or lighting assembly of such a payload based on thepresent location. In this manner, a dynamic image can be created andupdated by the combined operation of the flixels. The method 800 maycontinue at 864 or end at 890.

In some preferred embodiments, each flixel is configured with logic(code or programming in computer readable medium) to be able to processlive or real time collected data to maintain show/display quality. Forexample, the logic may allow each of a number of flixels to know tochange color (or otherwise change operation of the payload) if thepresent location in the air space requires it (e.g., floated into anarea of the display where all other flixels are showing green the flixelcontrol logic would cause the controller to switch its lights off or togreen (to match the neighboring flixels)). Further, the flixel may tryto correct its position to move it to where it is supposed to be or itsnext way point in its flight plan.

For example, the flixel may be assigned two or more neighboring flixelsthat it is to monitor during all or a portion of a show/display. Duringthe display/show, the flixel may ping or communicate with the nearbyflixels to get their current positions in the air space. If not theexpected neighboring flixels, the flixel may respond by changing colorto match the present neighboring flixels or take other action such asshut off display payload and/or move until find assigned neighbors.

FIG. 9 illustrates implementation of such a monitoring method 900, whichmay be performed during or as part of the control method 800 of FIG. 8(during a static or dynamic show/display). At 905, the method 900 startssuch as with providing monitoring logic to each flixel and/or providinghardware/software for communicating with (pinging) neighboring flixels.At 910, the method 900 continues with downloading or storing two or moreof the assigned neighboring flixels to each flixel. The neighboring orexpected adjacent ones of the flixels may change over time as the showor display is performed (e.g., when at a first way point, a flixel maybe near Flixel A and Flixel B while, when at a second way point, thesame flixel may be near Flixel B and Flixel C).

The method 900 continues at 920 with the flixel determining whether amonitoring period has expired (e.g., ping every 2 to 4 seconds or thelike). If not, the method 900 continues at 920. If a next monitoringperiod has arrived at 920, the method 900 continues at 930 with theflixel using its radio/communication devices to ping for neighboringflixels. At 940, the controller/logic determines whether the identifiedflixel neighbors match those assigned for this time/way point in thedisplay/show. If a match is found, the method 900 continues at 920.

If a match is not found at 940, the method 900 continues at 950 with thecontroller/logic acting to modify the lighting assembly control (ordisplay payload control) based on the identified neighbor(s) or itspresent location. This may involved a determination that flixels withina portion of the display air space are being used to provide aparticular color or simply copying the display color of the presentneighbors (e.g., the ping/communication may include receiving a messageindicating the present color displayed by the neighboring flixels). Themethod 900 may then continue at 920 or end at 990.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated with a certaindegree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosurehas been made only by way of example, and that numerous changes in thecombination and arrangement of parts can be resorted to by those skilledin the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention,as hereinafter claimed.

We claim:
 1. A system for providing an aerial display, comprising: aplurality of UAVs each including a propulsion device and a displaypayload; and a ground station system with a processor executing a fleetmanager module and with memory storing a different flight plan and a setof display controls for each of the UAVs, wherein, during a display timeperiod, the UAVs concurrently execute the flight plans through operationof the propulsion devices and operate the display payloads based on thedisplay controls.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the display payloadseach comprise a lighting assembly and a light controller and wherein theoperating the display payloads includes using the light controller toselectively operate the lighting assembly to provide an output light. 3.The system of claim 2, wherein the output light is one of two or morecolored light streams.
 4. The system of claim 3, wherein each of thedisplay payloads further comprises a light diffuser and the output lightis directed onto a surface of the light diffuser.
 5. The system of claim4, wherein the light diffuser comprises a light diffusing screenextending about the lighting assembly and the surface is an innersurface of the light diffusing screen.
 6. The system of claim 5, whereineach of the propulsion devices comprises a multicopter with a supportstructure upon which the display payload is mounted a distance apartfrom rotors of the multicopter.
 7. The system of claim 3, wherein eachof the propulsion devices includes a local control module and acommunication mechanism for communicating with a neighboring one of theUAVs and wherein the light controller is operable based on a comparisonof an identification of the neighboring one with a predefined neighborin the flight plan.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the flight plansare downloaded pre-flight to each of the propulsion devices, whereinduring performance of an aerial display the propulsion devicesindependently and concurrently execute the downloaded flight plans, andwherein the display payloads of at least a subset of the UAVs areoperated in two or more states based on progress of the UAVs along thedownloaded flight plans.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the flightplans are downloaded pre-flight to each of the propulsion devices,wherein during performance of an aerial display the propulsion devicesindependently and concurrently execute the downloaded flight plans, andwherein the fleet manager module communicates instructions to each ofthe UAVs to control operation of the display payloads during theperformance of the aerial display.
 10. A flight control method,comprising: at a plurality of multicopters, receiving a flight planunique to each of the multicopters; concurrently operating themulticopters to execute the flight plans within an air space; and duringthe operating of the multicopters, controlling a display payloadsupported by each of the multicopters to generate a visual display inthe air space.
 11. The method of claim 10, further including: providinga communications channel between pairs of the multicopters; with a firstone of the multicopters detecting a second one of the multicopters in apredefined space proximal to the first one of the multicopters; andoperating the display payload of the first one of the multicopters in anew manner based on an identity of the second one of the multicopters.12. The method of claim 10, wherein the display payload comprises alight source and a light diffuser positioned to receive output lightfrom the light source and wherein the controlling the display payloadcomprises operating the light source to output one of the two or morecolors of light onto the light diffuser.
 13. The method of claim 12,wherein the light diffuser comprises a cylindrical light screen andwherein the light source is positioned within a hollow space defined bythe cylindrical light screen.
 14. The method of claim 10, furthercomprising controlling of the display payload with a ground controlsystem communicating signals to a controller within the display payload,whereby the display payload of at least a number of the multicopters isvaried a predefined flight plan for the number of the multicopters. 15.An apparatus for use in an aerial display, comprising: a multicopter; alighting assembly supported by the multicopter; and a light diffusersupported by the multicopter and positioned with a surface receivingoutput light from the lighting assembly, wherein the lighting assemblyincludes a light controller and a light source operable to provide colorthe output light at least two different colors, wherein the lightcontroller operates to change the color during operation of theapparatus to provide the aerial display, wherein the multicopterincludes a communication mechanism for communicating with another of themulticopters and including logic determining an identity of the othermulticopter, and wherein the light controller operates to select thecolor based on the identity of the other multicopter.
 16. The apparatusof claim 15, wherein the multicopter includes a local controlleroperating to move the multicopter along a flight plan associated withthe aerial display and wherein the light assembly operates in at least afirst and a second state at differing way points of the flight plan. 17.The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the first and second operating statesare chosen from a plurality of states based on a present location of themulticopter, whereby the aerial display is animated.